Is it true that girls potty train earlier than boys?

Yes, it's true. Every child is different, but in general, girls tend to potty train before boys do.

In a two-year study conducted by the Medical College of Wisconsin and published in 2002, researchers found that girls stayed dry during the day at 32.5 months, boys at 35 months. Girls showed an interest in the potty at 24 months, boys at 26 months. Girls stayed dry for two hours at a time at 26 months, boys at 29 months. And girls verbalized their need to go to the bathroom at 26 months while boys verbalized it at 29 months.

A 2008 Brazilian study discovered similar differences between the sexes, with 27.8 percent of girls and 21.4 percent of boys out of diapers during the day by 24 months, and 10.6 percent of girls and 6.8 percent of boys out of diapers at night by 24 months.

Researchers have also found that (at least in the United States), children now learn to use the potty at a later age than in the past. Older reports suggest that most kids were toilet trained between the ages of 18 and 24 months, but toddlers today are toilet trained, on average, at 22 to 30 months.

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